Munroe's responsibilities are to plan, manage, and direct the
human resources, labor relations, and payroll programs for the
University.

Linda Flaherty-Goldsmith, vice president and chief operating
officer, praises Munroe's skills. "When I arrived a little over
a year ago, the priority communicated by every group was that
we recruit a strong associate vice president for human resources
and payroll," she says. "Donna Buxton Munroe is already demonstrating
to those who have worked with her that she is the ideal person
to lead those important activities for this campus."

Munroe has significant professional experience in human resources
and labor relations positions. She has managed and administered
AAUP collective bargaining agreements and participated in contract
negotiations for AAUP and the equivalent of UCPEA units at other
higher education institutions. She also has administered other
collective bargaining agreements and had oversight of a wide
range of human resources programs.

Munroe, whose father was in the air force, was born in Boston
and has lived in the Philippines and Venezuela as well as other
places in the U.S. She earned a bachelor's degree in psychology
with a minor in business administration from the University
of New Hampshire in 1976. She received a master's degree from
UConn in rehabilitation counseling.

She started her career at the UConn Health Center in 1978 as
a personnel officer, working there for four years. While she
was employed in the human resources field, she completed 24
credits in UConn's MBA program.

She managed the human resources program at the Yale University
School of Medicine for three years, and was director of personnel
at Central Connecticut State University from 1985 to 1990. In
1990, she became chief personnel officer at Central, where for
14 years, she planned, directed, and administered the employee
and labor relations functions for more than 900 full- and part-time
faculty and 450 staff.

Munroe says the field of human resources is challenging. "You
have to be sensitive to people and their priorities and concerns,"
she says, "and understand that everybody has a complex set of
issues that they bring to a situation. Oftentimes you have to
look beyond the issues presented, to the real concerns."

Munroe says the fields of human resources and labor relations
have "changed dramatically" over the last 15 years, in part
because of the proliferation of new laws such as the Family
and Medical Leave Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act,
and new immigration laws.

"They've had a direct impact on human resources departments,"
she says. "I also think as a society, issues in the workplace
have become more complex, and I think we're in a generally more
litigious environment. So managing in today's culture, and particularly
at a public university, has become an incredible challenge
for a lot of supervisors and managers."

Historically, "supervision has been viewed as an ancillary
task for many in the administrative ranks," she says. But, she
adds, "it really has to be front and center."

To supervise and manage effectively, she says, "you need to
put your people first, understand what job needs to be done,
know your people and how they can contribute, and help them
keep focused on the intrinsic value of their work."

Munroe says she hopes to rebuild the human resources and labor
relations programs, which lost employees to the early retirement
incentive. She also plans to support the payroll department,
as it moves toward a more streamlined, user-responsive operation.
She will work with human resources and payroll to support administrators
"as they plan for their human resources and labor relations
needs in an active way, as opposed to being reactive to problems
that pop up in the workplace."

Says Munroe, "I'm looking to make us more of a partner
with the University."